Program Overview – Gathering of Housing Experts and Stakeholders

Experts Explore Solutions to California’s Housing Crisis

On Tuesday, July 30, 2019 the BizFed Institute in partnership with the Milken Institute hosted a workshop with over 60 housing experts and stakeholders to explore solutions to address California’s Housing Crisis.

Participants included a broad range of leaders from academia, banking and finance, the building industry, property owners, health professionals, land use legal experts, school district officials, associations that represent seniors, environmentalists, regional government associations, nonprofit leaders, city officials, city council members, and state assemblymembers.

The gathering of experts and stakeholders was sponsored by Wells Fargo. Senior Vice President Jess Tirado shared Wells Fargo commitment and initiatives to support an increase in affordable housing in California.

The findings from the Gathering of Housing Experts and Stakeholders will be distributed to BizFed Members and BizFed Institute supporters in mid-August.

As a precursor to the findings being released, below is the program overview with a list of the speakers and panelists.

Program Introduction

Steve PonTell – CEO, National Community Renaissance & BFI Board

Chair Matt Horton- Associate Director, Milken Institute

Population Impact Analysis - The drivers of the housing crisis and the populations impacted

Dr. Dowell Myers – Demographer & USC Professor

Define Action Plan for Housing Coalition

Tracy Hernandez – Founding CEO, BizFed

Regulatory Reform Panel  - Discussed regulatory reform to address housing inequity

Moderator

Matt Horton – Associate Director, Milken Institute

Panelists

Robert Apodaca – Vice President, California Community Builders

Bill Jahn – President, Southern California Association of Governments

Scott Laurie – President, Olson Homes

Miguel Santiago – Assemblymember, District 53

Natalie Zappella – Program Director, Enterprise Community Partners

Define Action Plan for Regulatory Reform

Steve PonTell – CEO, National Community Renaissance & BFI Board Chair

Matt Horton- Associate Director, Milken Institute

Lunch Speaker - Addressing homelessness & accelerating housing development

Mitch O’Farrell – Los Angeles City Council Member, District 13

Fiscal Structure Panel – Discussed fiscal solutions to accelerate housing development

Moderator

Larry Kosmont – CEO, Kosmont Companies

Panelists

Richard Bloom – Assemblymember, District 50

Ron Galperin – Controller, Los Angeles City

Dr. Richard Green – Director of Lusk Center for Real Estate, USC

Jennifer Hernandez – Partner, Holland and Knight

Suja Lowenthal – City Manager, Hermosa Beach

Define Regional Action Plan for Housing

Steve PonTell – CEO, National Community Renaissance & BFI Board Chair

Matt Horton- Associate Director, Milken Institute

Wrap-Up – Reflections on moving from talk to action & encouragement to join housing coalition

Sandy Sanchez – Community Development Director, FivePoint